Wife of Arthur Porter to remain in custody

Arthur Porter’s wife, Pamela Mattock Porter, will remain in custody in Montreal over the weekend, pending a court appearance on Monday to set a date for her bail hearing.

Mattock Porter was brought to the Montreal courthouse this morning, shortly after her arrival in the city. She made a brief appearance in court early this afternoon.

Crown prosecutor Marie-Hélène Giroux said she will object to Mattock Porter's request for bail.

"She has no address in Montreal yet," said Giroux. "So obviously, not knowing where she will reside is part of a flight risk."

The wife of the former head of McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), Arthur Porter, faces charges of laundering the proceeds of crime and conspiracy.

Mattock Porter had been in detention in Panama since May 26, shortly after she and her husband entered the country on a flight from the Bahamas, where the pair had been living.

Mattock Porter was flown to Toronto overnight and driven by car to Montreal. She arrived at Quebec provincial police headquarters this morning.

Authorities in Canada issued an international warrant for the arrests of Porter and his wife in February.

The former MUHC head is facing charges of fraud and laundering the proceeds of crime, among others, for his alleged role in a scandal involving the $1.3-billion MUHC superhospital construction project, which he helped to spearhead.

Initially, Mattock Porter had agreed to be extradited to Canada, while her husband stayed in Panama to fight his arrest.

However, the couple's lawyer, Ricardo Bilonick Paredes, said Mattock Porter changed her mind about a voluntary extradition.

"She'd be in a bad position because of all the press and all the news surrounding her husband," said the lawyer. "She could be used as a pressure point to get Mr. Arthur [Porter] to change his mind, which he will not."